HORN OF AFRICA JOURNAL

is an electronic journal which focuses on developmental questions in Somalia, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia and Sudan. It is published by the Finnish Somalia Network. The articles and other materials are based both on research and practical work. Horn of Africa Journal is trilingual (Finnish, Swedish, English) and it is issued twice a year.

Youth, Peace and Poem

"You, who reside abroad

in another far country

this still remains a home to you

don’t limit your options"

The winner of the Poem Contest Ahmed Abdillahi Arab receives his prize.

Peace Poem Contest is promoting youth literature for peace to uplift the value and concept of peace among the young population. Somali people have rich oral culture and tradition of spoken word including poems, songs and folklore. This tradition is still strong and the Somali youth remain interested in poetry, they continue to engage in this tradition with specialized websites and online forums used as the popular medium of exchange.

Taste of Peace and Order

Somalia has become synonymous with conflict and human suffering as a result of continuous civil war in the last two decades. The prolonged conflict and civil war have created a culture of violence and lawlessness in the society, particularly affecting the young generation who were born during or after the civil war and have grown up in a hostile environment. Unemployed frustrated youth are vulnerable to exploitation by warring warlords and drawn into conflict.

Fortunately parts of former Somali Democratic Republic have been lucky enough to taste peace and order such as Puntland and self-declared state of Somaliland Republic which is not yet internationally recognized. Despite the peace prevailing in Somaliland it is surrounded by violent conflicts in the region and within itself.

Children in Somaliland primarily get basic education – although limited – but there are not enough vocational or higher education institutions for the youth after they have completed their basic education. The minority of youngsters who manage to get the chance to graduate from the few available universities find it difficult if not impossible to find any kind of employment. Unfortunately, a number of these educated few decide to leave for better opportunities in Europe, while many others drown in the deep sea between Somalia and Yemen or perish in the vast deserts between Sudan and Libya.

Peace is widely expressed and highly valued by Somaliland’s people but the concentration of peace and reconciliation is mainly directed to elder people e.g. clashes among clans. There are no effective programs aimed at reviving peace culture addressed to the youth.

Poems Instead of Guns

The above described problems and difficulties as well as the continuous radicalization of Somali youth inspired this idea of creating youth literature for peace to uplift the value and concept of peace among the young population using the rich and strong oral tradition of the Somali people.

The aim was to hold a national level Peace Poem Contest for the youth between 15 – 25 years of age male and female equally. Students and graduates of secondary schools were targeted in the first phase. The process is for the targeted group to first produce, write down and later recite poems or songs describing and exalting peace.

A large audience was gathered in the festival hall in the center of Hargeisa to witness a poet competition.

The best poems are collected to an album distributed to websites for download, organizations, schools, youth organizations, public transport vehicles, cafes and every one interested to maximum exposure. Also videos and DVDs of the contest are distributed to TV channels. This has stimulated the discussion about peace, brought much needed dialogue and benefited the community as a whole.

The idea was born from voluntary training courses which the member of the Horn Organization for Peace and Democracy ry, (Horn Democracy) extended to some youth groups and organizations. Leaders of Horn Democracy have been regularly visiting Somaliland for the last ten years and always carried out capacity building and experience sharing training for different sectors of the society, from parliamentary committees to local councilors and women's NGOs. The Idea of this project was developed by Horn Democracy together with other youth groups. Traditional and political leaders in Somaliland were consulted and they welcomed the idea and promised their support.

So far, Horn Democracy has organized peace poem contests for the youth on regional and national levels for the last three years (2009 – 2011). A lot of material consisting of DVDs, CDs, audio-tapes and a book were produced from the subsequent events and widely distributed to the public.

The competition component has really made the project interesting to the youth on the individual level and on a regional level. The best poet of each region was selected to participate at the national contest representing her/his region. The competition component of the project has made the project attractive to the public and formed a platform for young poets to showcase their talent, creating exposure and opportunities for the participants.

The three best of the poetry competition Mohamed Jama Abdi (from the region of Sahil), Ahmed Abdillahi Arab (from the region of Sool) and Ahmed Abdi Hirsi (from the region of Togdheer) with Roda Hassan and Mohamed Abdillahi. In front sitting Ayan Osman.

The 2011 grand finale consisted of the six poets representing the winners from each region of Somaliland, it was attended by a live audience of approximately five hundred, below is a print of the poem that won the first price. This thought provoking poem depicts the problems and struggles that are facing the Somali people as a whole and the impact of these problems on society and more specifically on the individual level.

Abdillahi Mohamed and Roda Hassan

HORN Organisation for Peace and Democracy(HORN Democracy ry)

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.